In a world where Google rules supreme, it is sometimes difficult to remember that there are actually other search engines out there. …But there are. Google has become so enshrined in our daily lives that we now “Google” everything, rather than actually search for it.

Duck Duck Go

DuckDuck Go describes itself as “The search engine that doesn’t track you”. For those with privacy concerns this is a great search engine and as close to Google, without being Google. So if you are alternative and don’t like the mainstream, then this search engine is for you.

DuckduckGo Queries per day are tracked on their website which you can access here. The growth in use of Duckduck go since the Edward Snowden revelations has been phenomenal, although it is still not a big contender to Google.

Bing

Ah yes, Bing. Bing has a fancy video background of mountain and some clouds in the background, something which I am sure the Google team are jealous of. Can just imagine them saying: “God dammit, why didn’t we think of adding a video background to our search engine!” Unfortunately as good as the video background is, the results are still less than adequate when compared to Google.

This would be Bing at a search engine party:

Ecosia

If you buy organic food, fair trade goods, vote for the Green party and hang out in trendy independent coffee shops, then you are going to love this search engine. Ecosia uses its income from its paid ads to plant trees. How cool is that? They have planted 3 million trees so far. Not too shabby!

Dogpile

CC Search

Creative commons search engine. Pretty good if you are looking for Creative Commons assets.

Qwant

https://www.qwant.com

Quant have this to say about their search engine:

“Qwant was launched in France in February 2013 after two years of research and development. The European search engine continues to grow, innovate and the entire Qwant team is proud to present its new “Beta” version which includes: -A modern and clutter-free design -Ergonomics thought for user experience -New in-depth search functions -An interface adapted to smartphones and tablets” Quant

Yandex

“Yandex is one of the largest internet companies in Europe, operating Russia’s most popular search engine and its most visited website. According to LiveInternet, for the three months ended December 31, 2015, we generated 57.3% of all search traffic in Russia. We also operate in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Turkey.” Yandex